Catharsis
by enderdez45
Summary: Ten years after the events of Chapter 260, Deku is the No. 1 Hero. But even the best hero in the world is still human, and still has emotions. (WARNING: SUICIDAL THEMES. Unfortunately, writing this theme in mind was too easy for me.)


**Catharsis**

_By Enderdez45_

Toshinori Yagi lay in his hospital bed, face more skeletal than normal and framed by a few streaks of silvery-grey hair, the incessant beeping of the heart rate monitor drowned out by the rambling of his successor.

"…And then the villain nearly caught me, but Eri rewound him back to before he used the Trigger capsule and then Kota captured him! They were so happy to have succeeded in her first mission on her internship, and I took them out for ramen and the owner recognized them from the Sports Festival and gave them free meals because it was Halloween and-"

He was cut off by a loud, hacking cough, blood spattering onto the bedsheets covering the former No. 1 hero.

"All Might! Are you-"

"I am alright, young Mi- Deku." He sighed, letting his head fall back to the pillows. "I thought I told you to call me Toshinori. All Might is no more. No," he held out his hand to quiet the current No. 1 hero, who was about to protest. "All Might is no more. All Might will live on in memories, but he has left this earth for good."

"I'm sorry, A- Toshinori… I guess I'm just not prepared for this."

"Nobody ever is, Deku. Such is life." He let out a weaker cough, sighing. "Although I suppose I'm more placid than I should be. Living your whole life in constant danger really helps you get a grip on death, I suppose," he chuckled.

"How much longer did they say you had?" Deku asked, unable to look his teacher in the eye.

"I've been working on one lung and no stomach for nearly sixteen years now," he said, tugging at the various hoses snaking in and out of his body. "After the heart attack four years ago, they told me my condition was starting to catch up to me; that without One For All keeping my organs functioning, my body would begin to rapidly deteriorate. I'm not confident I'll make it to Christmas."

Toshinori sat himself up, sighing as he felt his spine pop. "Enough sad talk; please, continue your story. It brings me great joy to hear those two getting along so well."

"Why don't you ask them yourself?" Blackwhip extended across the room and flipped the door handle, pulling the two teenagers through the doorway. They quickly picked themselves up, red-faced at being caught listening in.

"Eri, Kota, it isn't polite to listen in on people's conversations," Deku scolded.

"Sorry Deku," they sighed in chorus, already used to the routine.

Deku smiled at the two. "Well? Go say hi to A- Toshinori."

"All Might!" Eri cheered, leaping at her master's quasi-father and hugging him tightly around the waist.

"Hey, All Might." Kota was more reserved, but still bursting with excitement from meeting Deku's former teacher once again. Deku leaned over to Toshinori, giving him a look.

"Oh come on," Toshinori hissed to him, returning the embrace and pulling Kota in as well. "They're just kids." He took a look at the two young heroes, excited at seeing their costumes for the first time. "It's been so long! I can hardly believe you two are already on your first year internships! Is Deku giving you a hard time? I may not be the Symbol of Peace anymore, but I can still discipline him if I need to."

Deku rolled his eyes as Eri and Kota laughed. "No, he's treated us really well," Eri replied.

"He's been pushing us to work hard so that we can be like him when we're older," Kota said, winking at the hero.

"So, what are your hero names?" All Might asked.

"I'm Water Hose!" Kota proclaimed with pride. Looking closer at his costume, All Might recognized the iconic red and white armor. "I'm going to follow in the footsteps of mom and dad, like what Uncle Iida did with his older brother."

"I'm still Eri-chan," Eri said. "I couldn't think of anything good." Her costume was a flowing white dress and a shawl wrapped around her shoulders. At her waist was a small pouch filled with candies and other sweets to keep her energy up.

"That's all right, Eri. Besides, it's a beautiful name for a beautiful girl," he said with a grin, drawing a blush and a soft smile from the teen. "Although, I would have expected you to want to work with Recovery Girl, since you're following the healer route."

"I've gotten really good at fixing injuries, but I'm kind of falling behind in the fighting regard. I don't like having to hurt people, even if they're villains." She rubbed her arm, feeling the rough skin beneath her fingertips. "Force of habit, I guess."

Toshinori watched the girl with concern. "Eri, you could get rid of those, you know? You could-"

"I'm keeping them, for now… They remind me why I want to be a hero." She gave a sad smile, wiping a tear away from her eye. "Besides, it's not like Deku's any better."

"Yes, that's right," Toshinori said, turning to his former student. "Though he got his for a much more stupid reason," he joked.

"I consider it a memory of all the effort I've put into being a hero, Toshinori."

"Kids, did Deku ever tell you that it took him almost eight months for him to realize he had legs?"

"Okay, Toshinori's tired and needs his rest!" Deku said, a little too loudly. "Come on, let's go." He herded the two young heroes out, throwing a frustrated grin behind him as Toshinori laughed. The door closed, and once again Toshinori was alone with his thoughts.

* * *

_Two weeks later…_

"There is a saying in this world of superhuman powers that All Might preached above all else: _Stumble seven times, recover eight_. He lived by this saying to the very end, holding a single candle of hope in this dark abyss we live in, never backing down or giving up."

A single tear fell to the podium where Midoriya stood as he held back the trembling in his voice, feeling the millions of eyes across the world burning into him.

"All Might stumbled many times in his life. He recovered every time, pushing forth into the world with more determination and will each time. He- he always seemed so far above the rest of us, when he was actually just the same. We elevated him to become the Symbol of Peace, and with that responsibility he was pressured even further into hiding his fears and pain behind a smile."

That same smile was echoed in the portraits hung around the room, staring down at the crowd, reassuring them that everything would be all right; HE was here.

"With each battle, his fears and pain grew stronger; even with his strength weakening, he was forced to protect the people of this country; maybe not by our own idolizing of him, but by his own feelings of needing to do more."

"When I first met All Might a decade ago, I was just a Quirkless middle school boy running around with a journal and pencil, eager to learn everything I could about being a hero. I had considered him a god all my life; what a shock it was, to discover that the man I always dreamed of was just as terrified as I was in my adolescence. My image of All Might threatened to shatter into a million pieces, seeing him in such a vulnerable state. Sometimes, I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't rushed towards that sludge villain that day."

Midoriya felt a set of red eyes flare up from the front row for a moment, then they flickered behind him and softened, blinking away a tear as they tried to focus on anything besides what was happening.

"All Might told me that I could be a hero. He told me that I was even braver than he was, facing my fears to do what is right and help people even when everything seems like it's going wrong. Hearing my idol tell me such things made me work harder than ever to be the hero he knew I could be- no, that I was."

"All Might had confided in me many times that he was terrified, scared of what would happen in the 'unshakable' Symbol of Hope were to be defeated, if his image was tarnished. He spent years striving for perfection so that we may have a few moments of peace and happiness in our lives. When he fought All For One in Kamino Ward nine years ago, he told me that the only thing keeping him alive was the cheers from those he was protecting."

"We heroes have a duty to protect and save people, but the people have a duty many are unaware of: without the people giving them reason, heroes cannot exist. All Might was who he was because the people had absolute faith in him, because they gave him a reason to protect and care for them. Anyone who believes in this can be a hero; no, they ARE a hero."

Green eyes met red ones brimming with tears, blue-grey hair cascading down her shoulders and horn.

"A hero is someone who people can rely on, someone who does things for others out of the goodness of their own hearts. There are some out there who claim they only care for the money, but at the end of the day, I am certain that every single hero here today would lay down their lives in a heartbeat to protect people. That's what makes a hero."

Silence filled the room for a few moments as his words sank in. Across the world, it seemed that time had stopped, millions and millions of eyes glued to the nearest television screen.

"Nine years ago, just before dozens of heroes stormed the Shie Hassaikai compound, I met with All Might because I had learned a secret from Sir Nighteye that All Might had been keeping from me. During that conversation, All Might revealed that Sir Nighteye had told him six years before that he would die in seven years at the hands of a powerful villain."

Midoriya was silent for a moment, shoulders trembling as he gripped the podium tightly.

"It was the first time in my life that I had actually realized that All Might was mortal, that he was human."

He let out a deep sigh, willing his tears back as he looked out at the crowd.

"Thankfully, Sir Nighteye's Foresight was wrong then, as it was when he predicted my own demise against the villain Overhaul. All Might lived more than twice as long as Nighteye predicted, a time which he spent in the peace and comfort he strived so hard for, but never experienced for himself."

"When we look up to someone as much as we all looked up to All Might, very rarely do we consider what life would be like when they died. Some may simply say, 'Give up. He's gone.' But nobody is ever truly gone. They will live on in our memories that we will pass down to future generations; children hundreds of years from now will learn of All Might just as we learned of the samurai of old."

"Toshinori Yagi may be mortal… Toshinori Yagi may have died…"

Midoriya glanced behind him at the body of his idol, his predecessor, his inspiration; Golden Age costume folded in his arms, and smiled sadly.

"…but All Might will live forever."

* * *

_One week later…_

"Uravity! On your right!"

The Anti-Gravity Hero swirled around in mid-air, catching the arrow aimed right at her neck and flinging it back at the villain, who leapt back as it struck the pavement and exploded. The villain growled and nocked another arrow into his bow, rubbing the tip and leaving behind an orange glow. He fired at Deku this time, the arrow splashing into a fountain of water that shot from the hands of a red-suited hero beside him.

"Nice job, Water Hose!" Deku floated up next to Uravity, using Blackwhip to secure himself to a nearby building. "Ochaco, they can handle this. We need to let them learn on their own."

"Deku, you learned that way because you were taught by a crochety old man and a No. 1 hero who was _remarkably_ bad at telling you the truth." She gave his hand a squeeze. "We lead by example. Besides," she said, looking down at the two teenagers below them, "they could use a little help."

Water Hose and Eri were having a bit of trouble against the villain. He had since run out of arrows and was now running, randomly grabbing bits of debris and turning them into explosives. Water Hose had given pursuit while Eri stayed behind, carefully evacuating people from nearby buildings. A little boy tripped and Deku's blood froze as his knee struck one of the explosive stones. There was a blinding flash and a scream that softly tapered off, and the two pros dropped from the sky, fearing the worst.

To their relief, they found an unharmed boy cradled in Eri's arms, her horn glowing yellow as a small cut on her leg seemingly zipped itself back up. The boy's mother came rushing over, embracing the shell-shocked boy in her arms and giving Eri a big, teary smile.

"Thank you, Eri-chan! Thank you! You saved my little boy! You're such a kind hero!"

Eri blushed from the praise as the mother carried her son away from the minefield, standing up and grimacing at the singed and tattered hem of her dress.

"It feels good, doesn't it?" Deku asked. "The gratitude, the feeling of being someone's hero."

"Yes," she said quietly. "It's nice."

There was an explosion down a nearby alley, one larger than any before it. There was a moment of hesitation, then Uravity spoke.

"Deku, take Eri-chan and go find Water Hose. I'll deal with these bombs here."

"Are you-"

She cut him off with a small kiss to his forehead. "You'd think after four years of marriage you'd know better than to question me when it comes to hero work," she teased. "Eri, take Deku to go do his job."

"Deku, come on!" the teen called, already running to the smoky alley. "We can't let Kota have all the fun!"

He sighed, smiling, and took off, Eri jumping onto his back as he leapt through the alley. Uravity watched them go for a moment, then shook her head and began to levitate the bombs away from the street.

The alleyway was filled with smoke, stinging Deku's eyes and causing his lungs to seize up. Coming up on a side passageway, he rounded the corner and was immediately struck with an intense wave of heat that made the air shimmer. In the midst of the inferno, Water Hose was frantically spraying water at the blaze surrounding him, but the heat was so powerful that it was instantly evaporating the deluge.

"Hang in there!" Deku floated up into the air, sending Blackwhip down to grab Kota and lift him out of the flames as they crackled and burned.

"Water Hose! Where's the villain?" Deku asked as the boy shook ash out of his mask.

"He turned a fuel tank into a bomb and threw something at it!" he shouted over the roar of the flames. "I don't know where he is!"

"That's alright Water Hose, we'll find him! Eri, hand me my radio!"

He took the radio from the girl's grasp and flicked it on. "Shoto, we've got a fire out by the bay! Can you come freeze it?"

"I'm afraid I'm a little tied up at the moment, Deku."

There was a sound like a gunshot, and Deku heard the tell-tale sound of shattering ice. "Creati and I are busy dealing with a hostage situation down at the financial center. Is there any way you could leave the fire to emergency services and help us?"

"The fire was caused by a villain who seems to have gone missing in the chaos. We need a hero who can get rid of these flames!"

"Deku!" Momo's voice emerged from the static. "We've got almost a hundred hostages and a maniac with a rifle! It's all Shoto and I can do to protect the people, but we're pinned down! You're the only team close enough to us to help!"

"Deku, we need backup!" Todoroki's voice was frantic now. "If the villain got away, just let him go and-"

There was another gunshot, and the line went dead. The radio fell from Deku's hands as he grabbed the two teens in his arms and leapt across the city, Blackwhip slingshotting him through the buildings. As the smoke disappeared behind him, his ears picked up the sound of sirens, and he let out a small sigh.

Within moments the three heroes had come across a massive police barricade surrounding an office building. Deku skidded to a halt in front of the doors, ignoring the gasps of awe all around him.

"Eri, have some candy. Get your energy back up." He peered into the building, gulping at the sight of a blood spatter on a wall. "I have a feeling you're going to be doing a lot of Rewinding on this one."

"Water Hose, stay here with the police. When they start evacuating the hostages, I want you in there helping any way you can." He knelt down, placing his hands on their shoulders.

"Whatever happens to me, no matter what you hear, do _not_ enter this building. You two aren't ready to deal with this kind of crime."

"Deku," Eri asked, "what kind of crime _is_ this anyway?"

"The worst kind."

Taking a deep breath, Deku pulled his hood over his head and fixed his mask over his face. All around him, cameras flashed as nervous chatter flowed through the crowds surrounding the police. Deku rarely wore his mask, claiming that it was more important for the people he saved to see his reassuring smile. When he did wear his mask, most people thought it was because he was solely focused on fighting, on beating the villains into a pulp. Others thought he wore it to intimidate villains.

For Deku, the mask held a different reason than what the media attributed to it. They were right about him rarely wearing it, but when he did put it on, it was so that the people he was saving couldn't see his fear.

Stalking through the dark halls, he reached to his wrist and pressed a button. Years ago, Mei Hatsume had reforged the Full Gauntlet, and had produced a second one for his other hand. Said Gauntlets unfurled from their resting place, wrapping around his arms as green lightning began to leak from his fingers. The light gave the hallway an eerie atmosphere, the dead silence in the building failing to drown out his anxieties.

As he came upon the main lobby, he paused, then pried open an adjacent elevator shaft and floated up, coming out on the nineteenth floor. Sneaking to the balcony, he peered down into the atrium, and his heart froze.

Below him, the hostages knelt, so far unharmed. It was the two still bodies lying in a pool of blood that rooted him to the floor. Todoroki lay over Momo's prone form, faint, ragged breaths the only thing telling Deku the hero was still alive. Deku nearly let out a loud sigh of relief when he saw Momo's hand twitching, but he held it in as he watched her hand.

There was a pattern to the twitches. His mind flashed back to a moment in their second year when Momo had convinced the entire class to learn Morse Code in case of an emergency. Her hand was spelling out a message:

FOURTH FLOOR NORTH SIDE POSSIBLY SUICIDAL

This time, he actually did let out a sigh. There was nothing Deku hated more than trying to reason with someone hellbent on dying. Perhaps it was his own feelings from middle school, perhaps it was his natural kindness, but suicide cases were the only things in his line of work that could make him drink.

There was a gunshot below him, and a shower of sparks burst through the balcony rail. Deku leapt, swinging his foot as he fell and connecting with a rifle hanging over the fourth floor balcony. Floating in mid-air, Blackwhip shot out and coiled around the villain. Landing on the floor of the lobby, he pulled the villain into the light of a window to see his face, and for the third time that day, his blood froze, and he pulled his hood and mask off.

Ensnared in the coils of Blackwhip was a boy no older than twelve or thirteen, distant, teary eyes struggling to focus on the hero before him. His head lolled to the side, and a faint smile etched itself across his parted lips.

"Are you here to kill me?"

Deku almost broke down crying. The boy hadn't asked that as a taunt or in fear. His voice was full of hope, of pleading, of desire. This was a boy, even younger than Deku when he met All Might, who wanted nothing more than to die.

"No, I'm not going to kill you." Deku blinked back a tear. "Nobody here wants to kill you."

"…Why?"

The boy's heartbroken voice cut Deku like a dagger to the heart.

"I'll never kill anyone. I hate death."

"Oh…"

There was a silence between the two for a few moments before Deku decided to press further.

"Why did you do this?"

The boy gave him an incredulous look.

"Because All Might died." The words were a punch to the gut. "All Might was my hero. He was my life. Without him, I have nothing." A tear welled up in his eye. "I miss him so much."

Deku retracted Blackwhip, embracing the boy in his arms as a tear fell down his cheek. "I miss him too. We all do."

That was the final straw. The boy began sobbing into Deku's shoulder; it was a gut-wrenching sound full of loss and anguish, days of pent-up emotions flowing forth. Deku gripped the boy tighter, his own tears dripping steadily onto the floor.

"We all miss All Might. Not a day has gone by where I didn't pray for him to be alive and well. But you have to understand, life is worth more than just a person." The boy pulled back, confusion visible through his tears. "I used to be like you, you know that?"

"What?" The boy was shocked. "You wanted to kill yourself?"

"More than I ever want to remember, kid." Deku's mind was far away, remembering the tormenting and pain he went through for nearly his entire childhood. "I won't go into details, but my peers used to bully me a lot because I was Quirkless."

"You were bullied? You, the Number One hero?" The boy was stunned, as if for the first time, he realized that the No. 1 hero was human just like the rest of them.

"My Quirk didn't show itself until I was nearly fifteen. But until then, I was beaten, made fun of, tormented, and tortured for the fun of my classmates because they had Quirks and I didn't." Deku wiped a tear from his eye. "More than once, I was told that if I went to the roof of the school and jumped, maybe my Quirk would appear."

The boy, and the hostages within earshot, were beyond horrified at the words coming out of the No. 1 hero's mouth.

"The only thing that kept me going was my mother." Deku took a deep breath, letting his emotions fall freely like his tears. "Every time I felt like doing it, I thought of how my mother would react. Imagining the agony in her eyes when her son came home from school in a coffin, the crying, the pain she would feel at having her only family left dying. I couldn't do that to my mother. Imagining it made me sadder, but no matter how bad it got, I knew that I would suffer for all eternity if I put Mom through that pain."

"I don't have any family," the boy sniffed. "My parents threw me away into the streets. Nobody cares about me. I don't matter."

"I care! You matter to me!" Deku could see hope slipping through his fingers. "Just come with me and everything will be alright!"

For a moment, the boy was still. Then his shoulders sagged, and he nodded.

"Alright. I'll come with you."

"We'll help you, don't worry." Deku held out an arm to four of the hostages as they followed the rest escaping from the building. "Bring Creati and Shoto to Eri-Chan. She can heal them."

The boy watched as the people carried the two unconscious heroes outside, Deku's hand clamped around his arm. "Can your sidekick bring people back to life?"

"No, she can rewind living things to a previous physical state. She wants to heal people as a hero."

"Oh…" The boy was silent as Deku led him outside into the sunlight.

Deku brought him to a police officer and began talking to her, but the boy's mind was elsewhere. To the side, he saw a very pretty girl with a horn over her right eye placing her hands on the two heroes from before- Deku had said they were called Creati and Shoto, right? The girl's horn glowed yellow, and the boy watched as the gunshot wounds on the heroes closed themselves up, as if the damage was reversing itself. His mind went over what Deku had told him about her Quirk, and his eyes gravitated to the police officer's gun.

Deku saw a rush of movement, and his eyes went wide as the boy snatched the gun off the officer's belt and held it to his head. The streets went silent as everybody froze, the sight burned into their eyes.

"I'm sorry Deku," the boy said as tears fell down his face. "I'm not strong like you."

"NO!" Deku's hand reached for the gun, and-

***BANG***

* * *

Katsuki Bakugo's eye twitched at the sight before him.

"Why didn't you say how bad it was, Round Face?"

Deku was slumped over the table in his and Ochaco's apartment, bottles of alcohol surrounding his sleeping frame. Dried tears stained his face, and his eyes were dark and baggy.

"I thought he could get over it on his own, Katsuki." Ochaco Midoriya sat beside the green-haired hero, gently rubbing his shoulder. "He hasn't gone outside since… since _it_ happened. He barely eats, he barely moves, he just sits here and cries. Nothing I've tried helped."

"You just haven't tried hard enough." Bakugo held his hand to Deku's face, palm upturned, and a loud _snap _echoed through the apartment as he set off a small Stun Grenade directly behind his ear. The green-haired hero groaned, head rolling to the side as his eyes cracked open.

"Wha- Ochaco? Is that you?" He sounded dazed, and his eyes were bloodshot. "Wait, Ka-Kacchan? What are-"

Bakugo grabbed him by the hood, yanking him upright and grabbing his shoulders, shaking him violently. "Snap the fuck out of it, shitty Deku! What the hell are you doing!?"

There was a glint of recognition in Deku's eyes, then they dulled, and his head tilted down.

"Deku, don't you dare tell me you blame yourself for what happened to that kid." A sniffle was all Bakugo needed to hear. "Oi, quit yer cryin'! You of all people shouldn't be crying!"

"And why the hell not, Kacchan!?" Deku yelled, still not looking up. "First Nighteye, then Gran Torino, then All Might, and now a twelve-year-old boy whose name I never even learned? Why the hell shouldn't I cry?"

Bakugo gritted his teeth and yanked the desolate hero up, dragging him through the apartment to the bathroom, Ochaco following behind with a concerned expression. He shoved Deku in front of the mirror and pulled his hair, forcing his face up. Deku's eyes focused on the figure in the mirror, a trace of shock hidden in them.

"This is fucking why, Deku! Do you think this is what people want to see when the No. 1 hero saves them? Do you think they want the most powerful hero in the world to save them looking like he lives in a fucking pub? Do you want to end up like Mirko, huh Deku?"

Ever since the former No. 5 hero lost her arm in the Paranormal Liberation War almost nine years ago, Mirko had been taking frequent trips to bars and pubs across town, eventually turning up drunk two years ago in the sewers. She had been forced to retire and was now in rehab and therapy.

"Are you trying to destroy your life, you shitty Deku? Huh?"

Deku stared blankly at Bakugo's reflection. It was the first time in almost a decade that he had heard the foul-mouthed hero call him 'Deku' as an insult.

"Ka-Kacchan, I didn't-"

"You didn't _what_? You didn't do shit, Deku. For once in your life, stop blaming yourself goddammit!"

Deku felt something inside him snap. "You're right, Bakugo." The blonde hero took a step back, confusion and anger on his face. "It's not my fault. It's not my fault that I could relate to that child so much. It's not my fault that we both felt the same way, that we both wanted to do the same thing." He turned around, and his eyes were full of fire.

"It's yours."

* * *

_It was somewhat expected that this would happen_, Shoto thought._ I just didn't think HE would be the one to start it._

Rounding the corner, he was immediately struck with a powerful gust of wind that threatened to blow him away, if it weren't for the tough strand of tape that wrapped around his arm and dragged him through the gale into a side alley. Cellophane, Grape Juice, and Red Riot were huddled behind the building, with Uravity and Creati just behind them. Of the heroes, only Uravity was in civilian clothes, having just run from her apartment.

"Thanks for the assist," the heterochromic hero yelled over the wind. "How long have they been at it?"

"About ten minutes!" An explosion rocked the streets, and Ochaco's face fell more distraught. "I'm worried one of them is going to get seriously hurt!"

"I can't believe Bakugo's fighting a defensive battle against Deku," Grape Juice said, peering out into the battlefield. "Actually, I can't believe Bakugo's fighting a defensive battle _period._"

"We've got the two most powerful heroes in the world fighting like bats out of hell," Creati pointed out. "We're gonna need a really good plan to stop this before it gets out of hand."

"Cellophane, Grape Juice, you two stay low," Shoto said. "We'll need you to help immobilize them. Cellophane will get Bakugo, since you two are closer, and Grape Juice, you need to hit Deku with everything you've got. Creati, go high and try to knock them out with tranquilizers. Uravity, Red Riot, rush them from the sides once I give the signal and help us restrain them."

Taking a deep breath, the air chilled as Shoto stepped out into the street, frost already beginning to appear around his fingertips. The blows coming from the two heroes fighting before him were at full strength, trembling the air and shredding the clouds above them. With a nod to the other heroes, he raised his hand.

Time seemed to stop as the ice shot forth, covering every surface in a smooth, mirror-like sheen. Deku landed from a kick and immediately slipped, his metal boots providing no traction. Ice crawled up Bakugo's legs, temporarily halting the explosive hero, then a thick strand of Sero's tape struck his arms and wrapped around him as the yellow-suited hero slid around him, clasping his arms to his sides.

Dozens of purple balls descended from the sky, sticking to every part of Deku and firmly attaching him to the ground as a small dart pierced his neck. He struggled for a moment, then his eyes glazed over and he fell still. Ochaco rushed to his side as Red Riot beelined for Bakugo, holding him back as he tried to break through the ice.

"Baku-bro! Chill out man! Relax!"

By the time he had finally ceased resisting, Deku had come back to.

"W-what… what happened?"

* * *

_Six months later…_

Deku took a deep breath, opening the door and stepping out into the cool spring breeze. He looked around with a small smile on his face as he took in the sights of the people in the streets, going about their daily lives without a care in the world.

"Deku!"

He turned to greet his wife, embracing her in a big hug.

"Hey Ochaco!"

She released him, beaming. "How did your last session with Dr. Reikokuna go?"

The day after he attacked Bakugo, the No. 1 hero Deku had announced his temporary departure from hero duties, citing PTSD from previous incidents as contributing to a mental breakdown that led to the fight. He had been deferred to Japan's top psychologist, Kumiko Reikokuna, and for the past six months he had attended biweekly therapy sessions, and generally stayed out of the public eye. But finally, he was free.

He was free to do whatever he wanted now. He could go back to being a hero. He could retire and live an easy life, maybe teach Quirk History and Application at U.A! _Ooh, that's an idea!_

But, there was something different in his mind today. He couldn't quite put a finger on it. _Ah, yes. That's it._

"I think I'm going to wait a little while before I return to active duty," he said with a smile, looking over the crowds. "I want to spend some time with my wife."

Said wife smiled and reached up, cupping his cheek in her hand. "I think that's a wonderful idea, Deku."

_This is what I was missing_, Deku thought as he and Ochaco turned and left for their apartment. _I've spent so much time trying to be a hero, trying to be the best hero, chasing after my dream, that I completely missed everything that I already had._

As he walked, he closed his eyes, a genuine smile filling his heart.

_All Might, Gran Torino, Nighteye… You'll have to wait a while longer for me._

* * *

**Catharsis**

_Purification or purgation that _

_brings about spiritual renewal _

_or release from tension_

* * *

**Author's note: I want to thank you for reading Catharsis. This is my first My Hero Academia fanfic outside of the Slaughterhouse series, and I began writing it as a short story about All Might's funeral. It quickly blossomed past that, and the end result was what you see above you. I wrote this while listening to three songs I'd like you to check out:**

**Wooli - Over You (feat. Lena Leon)**

**Wooli & William Black - Nothing Left (feat. ****Runn)**

**Wooli & Sullivan King - Don't Forget Me**

**These songs are really great and I listen to them on loop for literally hours. They're just so damn perfect...**

**Anyway, that's all for this story. See you soon!**

**-Enderdez45**

* * *

**P.s: Dr. Kumiko Reikokuna is the mother of the pro hero Beorn from my Slaughterhouse series. Her Quirk is "Calming Embrace", which means that when she hugs people they instinctively relax and become much more open about their feelings. I had originally designed her as a kindergarten teacher, but I think she would be a great psychiatrist.**


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